Chapter 631 0626 [Qufu Kong Family]

"I will pay my respects to the prince!"

Ten miles outside Jinan City, all Shandong military and political officials came to greet him.

The chief envoy to the left of Shandong was Zhang Shuye, and the chief envoy to the right was Ling Guxu.

Li Hanzhang, an old friend who went to Beijing for the imperial examination with Ju Ming, had the highest official position as Minister of Civil Affairs, followed by Ling Guxu as the right governor of Shandong.

Min Zishun is now the inspector-general of Henan (the next step is to be promoted to the right governor), and Bai Chongyan is the prefect of Hangzhou (the next step is to be transferred back to Kaifeng as the prefect).

The northern provinces have changed to implement a total military system.

The commander-in-chief of Shanxi is Zhang Guangdao, the commander-in-chief of Hebei is Guan Sheng, the commander-in-chief of Shandong is Deng Chun, and the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi is Yang Zhi.

These positions of commander-in-chief are all excessive. They will be transferred back to the Generalissimo's Office in the next few years and the positions of commander-in-chief will be given to other frontline generals. This approach not only promoted them to official positions, but also gave other generals more room for improvement.

For example, Li Bao, after returning from Fujian, directly entered the Generalissimo's Mansion and was only sent out to command the troops during wars.

Ju Ming called several civil and military officials on board the boat. As for the other third-level officials from the provinces, prefectures and counties, they all followed him by boat to Jinan.

This place used to be called Qizhou, and was promoted to Jinan Prefecture during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, Jinan Prefecture annexed Zizhou and Dezhou, and the administrative area was much larger than before.

"Is Li Cheng still obedient?" Zhu Ming asked the military officer.

Deng Chun said: "This man is very disrespectful to his superiors, but he is very good to his soldiers. The troops in his hands have both good and bad military discipline."

"Good and bad?" Zhu Ming didn't understand.

Deng Chun explained: "A group of refugees and deserters were trained by him to be able to command and forbid. But last year, Shandong was short of food and occasionally defaulted on food payments. Li Chenggong led his troops to extort gentry and merchants. However, they only extorted wealthy households and did not Don’t attack the poor people. After the food and salary were enough this year, the ministry never violated the rules.”

"You didn't punish this person? Didn't you break up his troops and mix them up?" Ju Ming asked.

Deng Chun said: "The Jin people are in the north and may fight at any time. Li Cheng's old troops are quite capable of fighting. If they are broken up and reorganized, it will weaken their combat power. Moreover, it was the imperial court who defaulted on food and wages first, and Li Cheng led the troops to extort wealth. If he is behind the scenes, he will lose his morale as a soldier. Therefore, I just dismissed the old and weak, leaving all the elite behind."

Ju Ming didn't express his position anymore. He was somewhat resentful of Li Cheng.

After all, in history, this guy was the first general of the Puppet Qi Dynasty, and he had been playing tricks on the Jin Kingdom.

He was a very complicated man who could love his soldiers as much as his own son. He would only eat when the soldiers had eaten, and he would be hungry even if the soldiers did not eat.

He was most likely forced to rebel against the Southern Song Dynasty and plundered Jiangnan in order to obtain food and grass. This was extremely common in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty. A large number of miscellaneous troops lacked logistical supplies and could only plunder, kill, and steal goods. They even came to the city to force the county magistrate to provide food.

Li Cheng was classified as a "thief" by the court because he made too much trouble and was too close to the core area of ​​the Southern Song Dynasty. He repeatedly robbed.

The above experiences are all excusable.

What is unforgivable is that after betraying the Song Dynasty and joining the Jin Dynasty, this guy acted too aggressively in order to make meritorious deeds. He took the initiative to lead the Jin soldiers southward and beat a bunch of Southern Song generals to the point of losing their temper. In the end, Yue Fei had to take action to defeat him.

"Let's use it for the time being. Any further violations will be dealt with seriously," Zhu Ming asked Zhang Shuye again, "Does Shandong have enough food this year?"

Zhang Shuye replied: "It is barely enough without a war. If we go to Hebei to fight, we will need Huainan and Zhejiang to supply food and grass. During the Song Dynasty, Shandong was exploited excessively, and there have been many wars in recent years. We need to stop the army for at least ten years." Only then can you regain your strength.”

"It will be easier if we destroy the Jin Kingdom." Ju Ming said.

Zhang Shuye hesitated to speak, and finally couldn't help but speak: "The former Duke Yansheng also came to pay homage this time, and he is on the boat behind him now. It has been more than a year since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, but I have not yet given the title to the Kong family. Sir, there has been no response from my previous request.”

"It's almost time, let them wait." Ju Ming said.

The father and son had long discussed matters concerning the Kong family, and had learned in detail about the situation of the Kong family in the Northern Song Dynasty. They decided to wait for a year and a half before talking about it.

The attitude of the Northern Song Dynasty towards the Confucius was to give preferential treatment while taking precautions, and their status was far inferior to that of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Usually, their treatment is as follows: they are granted the title of Holy Duke, initially appointed as a ninth-grade Beijing official, initially awarded as a prefecture magistrate, county lieutenant or county chief registrar, and can be promoted normally based on political performance.

Moreover, since Song Yingzong, Duke Yansheng could not serve as the magistrate of Xianyuan (Qufu). Even during Zhezong's reign, Yanshenggong was changed to Fengshenggong, who dedicated his time to worshiping Confucius Temple. He only sent officials with salary but not dispatched officials, which further weakened the influence of the Confucius family.

This was the imperial court of the Northern Song Dynasty guarding against the Confucius family and preventing the Confucius family from monopolizing control of Xianyuan (Qufu).

But after Song Huizong succeeded to the throne, all kinds of restrictions were broken. Not only was the title of Duke Yansheng restored, but he could also serve as the magistrate of Xianyuan County. I don't know what this faint king thought.

Zhang Shuye said in a low voice: "Your Highness, the old and new dynasties have changed, the doctrines of various schools are confused, and the minds of scholars are uncertain. We should canonize the Kong family as soon as possible. Even if we want to suppress them, we should give a clear explanation."

Ju Ming smiled and asked, "How should Mr. Zhang treat the Kong family?"

Zhang Shuye said: "Restore the treatment to the Zhezong Dynasty. That is, Yanshenggong was changed to Fengshenggong, and he was awarded a ninth-grade Beijing official to worship Confucius full-time. He was not allowed to hold other official positions. Neither the chief registrar nor the county captain could be dispatched. Give it, otherwise Xianyuan County will be ruled by the Kong family sooner or later."

"A good idea," Ju Ming said approvingly. "Do officials at all levels in Shandong, as well as civil servants, have any objections to this?"

Zhang Shuye asked in confusion: "What objections can officials and scholars have to the imperial decree?"

Zhu Ming suddenly realized that it was the father and son who had overthought.

Before Confucianism was completely dogmatic, scholars did not have such unlimited worship for the Kong family.

This situation was most obvious during the reign of Emperor Zhezong, who was unwilling to give even the positions of chief clerk and county lieutenant, and just went to worship Confucius honestly. Of course, this also proved that the Kong family was not very disciplined, and their control over Xianyuan County was so serious that the court was alert.

Zhu Ming asked again: "What is Confucius' current title?"

Zhang Shuye replied: "The Sage Wenxuan King."

Zhu Ming asked again: "What is the title of the Zhou emperor?"

Zhang Shuye said: "The King of Zhou."

Zhu Ming asked again: "Is Confucius a minister of Zhou?"

"Yes." Zhang Shuye said.

Zhu Ming sighed: "To confer the title of King Wenxuan on Confucius and make the emperor and his subjects equal is really to make Confucius disloyal! I want to clear Confucius' name and remove his title of king, is that okay?"

Zhang Shuye was stunned and praised: "It should be so."

When Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty was enfeoffed on Mount Tai, he planned to confer the title of emperor on Confucius. At that time, the ministers strongly opposed it, arguing that the Zhou emperor was only the king of Zhou, and it was too presumptuous for Confucius to be emperor.

Zhu Ming asked again: "Is there a statue of Confucius in the Xianyuan Confucius Temple?"

Zhang Shuye replied: "There is no statue, but there is a portrait carved on a wooden board. According to the Kong family, this portrait has been carved for more than a hundred years and is copied from the sword-wearing portrait painted by Wu Daozi in the Tang Dynasty."

"Copied from a Tang Dynasty portrait, how do you know it is the real face of Confucius?" Zhu Ming said, "Scholars all over the world worship Confucius, and the Confucius Temple must not offer statues or portraits. Who knows who it is painted? From now on, only the tablet of Confucius is allowed to be offered in the Confucius Temple."

"It should be so." Zhang Shuye could not find any reason to refute this.

"You are the governor of Shandong, please petition the court for this matter," Zhu Ming said, "The Most Holy King Wenxuan will be changed to the Most Holy Teacher. The Duke of Yansheng will be changed to the Duke of Fengsheng, and you will only be responsible for worshipping and not be given another real position. Brother Linggu, you also sign the petition."

"Yes!"

Zhang Shuye and Linggu Xu responded in unison.

Then, Zhang Shuye said: "If Confucius loses his title of king, the titles of two other people should also be removed."

Zhu Ming asked: "Which two?"

Zhang Shuye replied: "One is Jiang Taigong in the Temple of Martial Arts, and the other is Wang Linchuan (Wang Anshi) in the Temple of Confucianism. Confucius lost his title of king, but these two have the title of king. This is really not right."

Zhu Ming thought seriously and said: "These two should be demoted to dukes. Wang Linchuan's ranking in the Temple of Confucianism should also be moved back. You should write them in the memorial together, and don't be afraid of offending anyone."

In fact, the father and son planned to destroy the Jin Dynasty before talking about the sacrifice.

Due to the large-scale canonization of gods by the Northern Song emperors, there were a lot of messy legal gods and immortals in the country. There were more than 10 to 20 sea gods alone. Merchants and fishermen often repeated sacrifices for fear of accidentally offending one of them.

Zhu Yuanzhang gave a demonstration on how to do it, which was to canonize some gods and immortals and abolish all the others.

Of course, Zhu Ming had no control over what the emperors would do in the future.

For example, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that Confucius could only be worshipped in Qufu, but only a few decades later, Confucius temples were built all over the country. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty did not care about the laws of their ancestors.

Zhu Ming said again: "Please submit another memorial to the court, asking for the change of Xianyuan County back to Qufu County."

"Yes!"

Zhang Shuye and Ling Guxu responded again.

This broken name was changed when Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty was enthroned on Mount Tai. He believed that it was the hometown of Huangdi, so he changed the name to "Xianyuan". He even forcibly relocated the county town of Qufu and the people inside and outside the city to Shouqiu, the birthplace of Huangdi, which was a waste of money and labor and had no practical value.

After the fleet arrived at Jinan Prefecture City and entered through the water gate, Zhu Ming went straight to the hotel to stay.

Officials at all levels were ordered to disperse and do what they should do. Only Yanshenggong Kong Duanyou was summoned.

Kong Duanyou was taken into the hotel by the prince's guards. He was a little uneasy because the situation was too strange. He thought that the Kong family had offended the new Ming Dynasty.

Before the northern and southern Kongs separated, the Qufu Kong family still had basic ethics.

When the Ming Dynasty was established, Kong Duanyou did not present a memorial at the first time, but was still watching the small court in the southeast.

It was not until last year when Li Bao captured Hangzhou that Kong Duanyou formally presented a memorial and pledged his loyalty, but the Ming Dynasty court did not give any attitude.

He, the Duke of Yansheng, has not been recognized by the new dynasty, and he dared not even offer sacrifices to Confucius this year.

By the way, the Confucius Temple in Qufu during the Northern Song Dynasty often failed to offer sacrifices on time. Because the Duke of Yansheng might be an official in other places and could not leave his place of office at will, it was naturally difficult to offer sacrifices without the chief priest.

Confucius in the Northern Song Dynasty was really miserable. Even the great sacrifices in the Confucius Temple in Qufu were interrupted every now and then.

"Your Highness, Kong Duanyou, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Sir, please sit down."